Commentaries by SIDney Howard on matters of the mind, matters of the heart, and matters of music machines.

Thursday, January 2, 2014

To Halve Undo Whole 'Til Deaf Do Us Part

…and
SID Sez 120413

I usually fall asleep listening to
talk radio. After one particularly great sleep, I remained in bed and watched Michael
Jackson's "Ghost" video. While I wouldn't call it a disappointment, it
wasn't as good as I would have hoped to see coming from the brain-trust of MJJ,
Stephen King, and the great Stan Winston. Maybe (not just maybe) it was too
long.

Checking my email I saw one of my favorite notices. From
Amazon: $5 albums. Nowadays, $5 per platter is an incredible music buy. When I
was a teenager buying vinyl, that was in the neighborhood of the going price
of nice. …back when a dollar sort of was real money-like. Today, that's
half the price of a new MP3. Today that's what I buy more readily than do I
consume hardcopies. And why is that so? Convenience: the ultimate impulse buy.
I purchased Raul Midon's first album from iTunes immediately after watching him
perform on Late Night with David Letterman. A year or so before, when I
heard of Chaka Khan's Classikhan album of classic song covers, I visited
at least two stores to finally find it and purchase it at the price of $15.99 +
6% MI sales tax + the price of fuel and the wear and tear of aggravation.

Nowadays, the allure of vinyl sound and its comparatively
bigger than life package presentation has recaptured the collectors' hearts.
…at steep prices. … comparatively. Thinking about the state of music
consumption today, I can make a three-way division of end uses.

First: There are the free receivers. For purposes of not
overly extending the scope of conversation, I'll not lump in the
data-ripping/file-sharers. That said, this category is made up of passive
consumers who listen to broadcasted music mostly. There are also those who hear
enough while frequenting clubs and/or parties and ceremonies where the music plays as
free as the wind.

Second: There are those who are mostly/to/strictly into
pay downloads. As I stated earlier, there is a convenience factor. The
downloader is much more interested in controlling their playlist than are they
concerned with amassing a physical music collection.

Third: Group three is more concerned with having a music library
than just a playlist. Those in this group take much pride in having at hand
physical pieces that can be showcased on shelves and in open media stands—or
closed ones for awesome reveals. Part of the process of enjoying their acquisitions
is starting the music then sitting down to listen while perusing liner notes,
inserts, or booklets.

Following along the wedding analogy suggested in the
title, the first group wants a good, enjoyable, and/or interesting time with as
many as frequency and circumstances allow. They're easily bored with a single
subject and hardly even make the effort to learn titles. The second group is
into limited brief commitments. While they may not stay into one for very long,
they reserve the right to revisit when the whim dictates. Group three is the
figurative "polygamist" group. Each "wife" in the
collection is precious to them. In fact, if upon a visit to the library, a
three-er finds that he cannot find a particular album or CD, it is a grievous
state of affairs indeed. This final group wants to have its music to hold forever,
until deafness would do them to part with their precious platters. Group two cares less than half
as much. And those in group one can't even remember what this blogs is about.
It's about where music stands or doesn't stand today.